Derrick Lewis ties UFC record with huge knockout of Blaydes

UFC heavyweight Derrick Lewis celebrates after a victory. (John Locher/AP)

Derrick Lewis extended his winning streak to four with a massive knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes in a UFC Fight Night main event this past weekend.

It was the 12th knockout win of Lewis’s UFC career, which tied Vitor Belfort for most in UFC history. Belfort’s dozen KO/TKO wins inside the Octagon were spread out over 18 years, while Lewis has racked up all of his UFC stoppage wins within the past seven years.

Lewis was nearly a four-to-one underdog heading into the bout since Blaydes’s high-level wrestling was supposed to be kryptonite for Lewis, however “The Black Beast” landed perfectly-timed uppercut that instantly removed Blaydes from consciousness.

It was the biggest upset in a UFC main event, according to oddsmakers, since 2016 when Michael Bisping upset Luke Rockhold to win the middleweight title.

Lewis is now ranked as the No. 2-ranked contender in the heavyweight division behind champion Stipe Miocic and top contender Francis Ngannou. Miocic is scheduled to defend his title against Ngannou at UFC 260 on March 27. Jon Jones is expected to face the winner later this year but Lewis is also is the title picture considering he holds previous wins over Ngannou and No. 5-ranked Alexander Volkov. Lewis could also be in line to face the winner of Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane which takes place this Saturday.

Below are the complete from an event that saw seven fights end via strikes.

MAIN CARD
-- Derrick Lewis def. Curtis Blaydes by knockout
-- Yana Kunitskaya def. Ketlen Vieira by unanimous decision
-- Darrick Minner def. Charles Rosa by unanimous decision
-- Chris Daukaus def. Aleksei Oleinik by technical knockout
-- Phil Hawes def. Nassourdine Imavov by majority decision
-- Tom Aspinall def. Andrei Arlovski by submission (rear-naked choke)

PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Jared Gordon def. Danny Chavez by unanimous decision
-- John Castañeda def. Eddie Wineland by technical knockout
-- Julian Erosa def. Nate Landwehr by technical knockout
-- Casey O'Neill def. Shana Dobson by technical knockout
-- Aiemann Zahabi def. Drako Rodriguez by knockout
-- Sergey Spivak def. Jared Vanderaa by technical knockout

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